2015 BMW i8 Road Test Review

is about as rare as exotics get in these parts and its technology more advanced than most anything else on the road, but this particular i8 is done out in a modernized version of classic BMW M-Motorsport racing livery and then wrapped with numbers, sponsorship decals and more as part of its entry into this year’s Diamond Rally, a fundraising platform for various charities that saw 100-plus luxury and supercars traveling from Vancouver to Whistler, BC and back, this i8 driven by Canada’s own (actually Surrey, BC’s own) Scott Hargrove, an accomplished up and coming race driver.

It was yours truly at the wheel more recently, which suited me just fine. I wasn’t rallying in an effort to raise funds for the BC Cancer Foundation like the big-hearted

Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press

race driver or his even more benevolent sponsor OpenRoad Auto Group, but was only too happy to share the various messages on the skin of this i8 as my partner and I noiselessly whisked across glassy and ever-greening downtown Vancouver, silently crept through the stately treed Stanley Park Causeway, seemingly hovered over the spectacularly scenic Lions Gate Bridge as if piloting some future-think spaceship, overheard a wonderfully powerful rasp from the car’s backside as we made our way up the gateway to the Guinness family’s British Properties, Taylor Way, towards the Upper Levels Highway in West Vancouver, and once again quietly cruised the freeway at about 100 km/h for a few

Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press

clicks before letting the combustion portion of this electrified exotic roar its way up the sinfully serpentine Cypress Mountain roadway.

Cypress serves a dual purpose. Its natural splendor offers a magnificent backdrop for photos up top, while the road getting there and back is about as enjoyable to drive as is possible this close to the city. The park’s beautiful surroundings and circuitous ribbon of tarmac suited this BMW for obvious reasons, its raison d’être being low emissions and fuel consumption mixed with brilliant performance. I was a bit surprised to experience the latter after first reading about the i8’s powertrain,

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the electric motor positioned over the front axle rated at just 131 horsepower and the tiny 1.5-litre three-cylinder combustion engine mounted amidships making a mere 231 horsepower, but the combination results in a very energetic 362 horsepower that when combined with the i8’s featherweight carbon-fibre construction and four-wheel driven traction ends up nearing the performance of an M4, but nowhere near the consumption of one.

Transport Canada’s five-cycle EnerGuide rating system gives the i8 a combined 8.3 L/100km. That’s superb for a supercar, with most any regular exotic offered by the Italians averaging between 15 and 20 L/100km. Even the LaFerrari hybrid gets a US EPA metric equivalent rating of 16.8 L/100km combined, while Porsche’s

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918 Spyder receives a much better EPA rating of 10.6 L/100km, but still nowhere near as good as the i8’s 8.4 L/100km EPA rating. That Porsche is able to travel under electric power alone, just like the i8, and when doing so gets a metric equivalent EPA rating of 3.5 L/100km, although the i8 achieves just 3.1 in the same circumstance.

It would be unfair to compare the two cars directly, however, as the 918 Spyder puts out a combined gasoline-electric 887 horsepower and starts at $845,000 USD ($1,072,168 CAD at the time of writing) unless you want the $929,000 USD ($1,179,205 CAD) Weissach package, whereas the i8 will only set you back $150,000. Yes, that’s a surprisingly low price for BMW’s first exotic since the legendary

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1978–1981 M1, other than the wonderful albeit not really exotic 1999–2003 Z8 front-engine roadster. Funny to think that the M1’s 273 horsepower inline-six was a powerhouse for the era, now equivalent output to a run of the mill Toyota Camry, while the beautiful Z8’s 400 horsepower is closer to what the i8 is capable of, yet even its original $192,000 price point makes the i8 look like a steal of a deal.

I spent four wonderful days in a then-new Z8, and while I loved every moment behind the wheel the i8 would eat it for breakfast. It comes down to curb weight and balance, the older two-seat roadster weighing in at 1,585 kilos (3,494 lbs) and the newer one hitting the scales at just 1,485 kg (3,274 lbs), despite a much more luxurious 2+2 cabin filled with umpteen times the convenience features and electronics. The Z8 was for sports car purists from a bygone era, the car finding its

Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press

muse in the 1956–1959 507 after all, whereas it’s pretty obvious the i8’s imagineers didn’t even look to the M1 for inspiration, but rather dreamed this one entirely up from the ethereal musings of, what if?

It’s obviously a BMW, the elongated twin kidneys front and centre making this abundantly clear, but the i8’s aero-enhancing lateral wing-like C-pillar extensions make traditional flying buttresses appear like grounded flightless nubs. Park it next to anything from Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren or Porsche and it not only measures up, but purely from a design perspective the car’s rear end looks much more unique and dare I say even more exotic.

And that’s with the doors closed? Think Lambo when these winged appendages are

Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press

open, but not the mundanities of a Huracán, I’m talking about the full scissor effect of an Aventador. Pinch a button within the vent-like opening aft of each door skin or on the door pull inside, and voila a spring/damper system pops them up and forward in one effortlessly fluid movement, while closing is almost as easy thanks to their lightweight construction. I only wish climbing inside was as gracefully executed, although plenty of time spent in Lotus Elise and Exige models have made me adept to such acrobatic feats. The doors only need a foot and a half of open air next to an adjacent car to wow passersby, so tight parking spaces are fine but parallel parking in a busy shopping district is much more satisfying for the ego. Yes, the i8 should be exotic enough for anyone.

But

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three-cylinder power? True, that is something to get the head around. Since Lamborghini invented the first supercar way back in the mid-’60s, a 12-cylinder count was the only acceptable number for true exotic status. We’ve since seen 6-, 8- and 10-cylinder supercars win the hearts of well-to-do new buyers and classic collectors alike, but it would have to be a truly impressive three-banger to cause this lot to sit up and take notice. It just so happens that it is.

The 1.5-litre DOHC B38 that I touched on before, which is the first to use BMW’s modular engine strategy incidentally, features direct-injection technology, a mono-scroll turbocharger and an 11:1 compression ratio to make its 231 horsepower. It actually shares most of its architecture with the BMW B37 diesel, and as you may have guessed can also be found stuffed under the hood of new Mini 3- and 5-Door models. Unlike the Mini, the i8’s rear-drive ICE mill is combined

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with a 7.1 kWh lithium-ion battery pack and 96-kW electric motor powering the front wheels, which is why it can sprint from naught to 100 km/h in just 4.4 seconds and achieve a top speed of 256 km/h (159 mph). As inferred earlier it can also swish along under full-electric power, for up to 37 km (23 miles) according to the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC), or 24 km (15 mi) as per the EPA, the US rating noting a small amount of gasoline consumption as well. The NEDC rates the i8 at an even more efficient 2.1 L/100 km, by the way, with carbon emissions of just 49 g/km. Whichever system you choose to judge it by, it’s ridiculously clean and efficient considering its capability.

Along with its breathtaking acceleration comes thrilling maneuverability, the i8 clearly a BMW in every sense of the three-letter abbreviation, except ride height. Most

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Bimmer buyers experience road life from a 3 or 5 Series’ point of view, but the low-slung i8 feels more like the mid-engine supercar set when behind the wheel. This helps it manage high-speed corners extremely well while making its driver feel like a hybrid-powered F1 hero during the process, but this said it’s not going to walk away from an M4 and certainly doesn’t feel as effortlessly nimble as a Porsche Cayman. Yet we need to put the car into perspective. The i8 is spearheading affordable yet super quick plug-in hybrid-electric exotica that will soon be followed by Acura’s upcoming NSX hybrid, a car that hopefully won’t go the way of the Japanese luxury brand’s ZDX crossover after it tried to emulate the strangely successful X6. While the i8’s straight-line power is much like the M4, although the growl in Sport mode is slightly less pronounced, its all-round performance is awe-inspiring

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as far as hybrids go. That I was also able to drive thru rush hour traffic solely on electric power during the home stretch, which occasionally had us scooting along at speeds above 70 km/h (it’ll run up to 120 km/h in EV mode ahead of ICE power being required) before settling down to the usual dull urban crawl, where most i8 drivers will spend the majority of their time I might add, is a bonus few other exotic sports cars can offer.

Unlike that NSX, which will be based on an aluminum monocoque structure and only use CFRP in its floor, the i8’s construction is much more exotic, falling into LaFerrari and 918 Spyder territory due to thermoplastic exterior panels overtop a carbon-fibre tub, whereas the doors and other parts of the car’s structure utilize aluminum. BMW even goes so far to source the i8’s carbon-fibre from its own 100-percent renewable hydroelectric-powered

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CFRP facility in Moses Lake, Washington. It’s built, by the way, in the same wind-powered Leipzig, Germany plant that produces the i3.

Sustainable for sure, but is the i8 livable? Well that depends on what you deem livable. Compared to most four-wheeled exotica it’s downright practical with two rear seats, or more accurately, seatlets. Yes they’re small. Way too small for my five-foot-eight frame and even uncomfortable for my partner’s five-flat, so we’re talking small kids and/or backpacks/briefcases. Then again there’s a fairly deep well of space under a lidded compartment accessible from under the glass hatch, easily enough for a tightly packed weekend getaway, but don’t think about stowing anything under this supercar’s front hood, as it only opens for BMW mechanics,

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and just specially trained ones at that. Therefore it’s a practical commuter for two with the ability to drop off a couple of wee ones at daycare along the way, which makes it much more pragmatic than most in the supercar class. An ergonomic oddity to get used to (and it wouldn’t be a true supercar without an ergonomic oddity) are side windows that don’t power all the way down into the doors, leaving about an inch and a half sticking up over the sill, something I noticed at the drive thru window. Ah, the problems of one percenters.

As noted the i8 also impressively luxurious in true supercar tradition, its beautifully sculpted interior design as appealing as almost anything in the exoticar world yet easily identifiable as a BMW. The fixed flat screen infotainment display perched atop the dash with BMW’s usual sharp resolution and beautifully detailed graphics gave that away, along with the stock aluminum and clear resin backlit joystick

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only a wrist-flick below on the lower console. The brilliantly colourful TFT primary gauge package is a uniquely wonderful addition, filled with the types of EV wizardry that make eco nerds perk up like a crowd of fireworks gawkers oohing and ahing at a Celebration of Light night (yours truly included). My backside felt secure in the i8’s well-bolstered buckets, upholstered in supple leather that just happened to be naturally treated with an olive leaf-based tanning agent. BMW even goes so far to weave the carpets from virgin lambs wool whereas it uses recycled polyester for many of the trim details.

Writing out a features list for the i8 is like spieling off an ingredients list for Hawksworth’s tamari glazed duck breast or seared halibut entrées, the process is almost degrading, but suffice to say it’s filled with most every asset BMW has in its

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sizable, technologically advanced arsenal and then some, so you won’t feel shortchanged one iota.

Truly, the i8, especially this seemingly race-prepped one leaves me with only one question? Will it, or more precisely the technology within, ever see BMW return to the highest levels of motorsport? Now that Honda has returned to Formula 1, a company that left for the same reasons that BMW abandoned its F1 effort at the end of 2009, due to “sustainability and environmental compatibility” or so said the team upon announcing its retirement, the FIA-sanctioned series’ new hybrid drivetrains would be an excellent platform to market this new i8 and the more practical, more affordable i3, not to mention the entire lineup of Efficient-Dynamics infused blue and white roundel machinery, while the Sauber team that BMW left to its own resources could now be available for the literal taking. Or possibly

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better (and more realistically) yet, a BMW roundel would look lovely on the front of the Martini liveried Williams (an almost identical colour-scheme to BMW’s own M-Motorsport division), because that brand will never win a championship with a Mercedes power unit under its bodywork. Of course if BMW has any inklings of reentering F1 it will want to see how Honda does with its version of the sport’s new 2.7-litre turbocharged V6 hybrid, and hopefully they won’t use the 2015 season as the end all to be all yardstick, as there’s no way BMW would want to receive the public humiliation Honda has endured, especially with Mercedes’ being the most successful team at the moment (although the three-pointed star has little to do with the F1 effort other than branding and funding).

Success

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in mind, I think BMW can be proud of the i8’s take-rate. While the US was only responsible for 555 i8 sales during 2014 and 733 units through the first half of this year, and Canada’s sales are likely a tenth of that (Canadian i8 sales have yet to be reported), global cumulative sales totaled almost 4,500 units through June of 2015, making the car a whopping success as far as exotics go.

Is it the supercar for you? As mentioned it’s got an awesome set of scissor doors, beautifully sculpted pavement hugging bodywork, CFRP embedded into the core of its construction, a gorgeous interior filled with more than ample equipment, superb power from a state-of-the-art plug-in hybrid drivetrain, and a price tag that makes it easier to buy than almost anything else on the exotic market, but let’s face it, it won’t

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break 100 km/h in less than four seconds and can’t hit 320 km/h (200 mph) on the autobahn. Say what?